Long Time, No Blog...

Just not got round to blogging for a while. Sorry.

Today's subject: Tennis.
I was watching some of the ladies final of the French Open today - and what an embarrassment! I have always been a big fan of women's tennis - I still miss watching Steffi Graf, always did love seeing those Evert/Navratilova duels etc. It always annoys me that so many journalists and commentators are so condescending about the women's game, but right now it is very very hard to stick up for it! There were no really outstanding woman athletes on show in Paris at all unfortunately. The best players - the Williams and the Belgians - were either not there or not on form, the other good players like Capriati, Mauresmo, Davenport are just not up to it. Neither of the Russian players are really top class Grand Slam champions. The women's game badly needs the top players back on peak form.
I knew things were bad when I was avidly watching Tim Henman - who I can't stand most of the time! The men's game on grass at Wimbledon is a huge bore for me. Just serve, serve, serve. YAWN!! However, at Roland Garros, it was actually really enjoyable to watch Henman's server/volley game come up against the clay court specialists.

Of course typical Tim - brilliant for an hour/shite for an hour! And typical English media were going nuts about it. That's the thing that annouys me the most abou tHenman. How he is the ONLY tennis player who matters to the British press.

Anyway, barring Steffi making a comeback, I just hope Serena, Venus, Kim and Justine get fit. A few years ago the women's game was constantly thrilling - remember Capriati's amazing comeback? The rise of the Williams, the Belgian renaissance. Let's hope the women's game improves soon, because the Ladies tournament at Paris was just crap!

Well, poke me in the eye with a sharp stick...

Well, poke me in the eye with a sharp stick...

OK, DON'T poke me in the eye with a sharp stick, but I sort of did it to myself today.
Went for a fitting for contact lenses. I'm really a very happy glasses wearer, but with this round-the-world trip coming up in the summer, I wanted to try out some cheap daily disposable lenses so that I can actually see the ground rushing towards me when we do the tandem skydiving etc.

I was also hoping to see a bit more of these dolphins we are due to swim with too, but apparently water and contact leses do not mix. Hmm...anyway, the experience of wearing these lens was wierd, mainly because I actually SAW myself without glasses for the first time in 30 years!! Photos just aren't the same thing - it was just so bizarre for me to look in a mirror and see myself glasses-free! (OK, so I can see myself without my specs, but I have to be withing a nose length!)

Anyway, all was going well until it came time for me to take them out and put them back in. Left eye - no probs. Bit wierd, but fine. However, for some reason my right eye just would not cooperate. You really shouldn't flinch from yourself should you, but I could not force the damn eye to stay open while I poked in this lens. Consequently, I have to go back on Friday for another lesson! The shame! I'm a special needs pupil!!

Any useful tips greatly appreciated..

Can I just say, little girls are SUCH a pain!!! I've had endless trouble with the girls in my class these last few weeks cos all they ever do is fall out!! I almost wish the boys in my class would have a punch up, just for a bit of variety!!
I suppose we can all remember being 8 or 9, when all that mattered was who was your best friend and how upset you got if you fell out with them, but it's a real pain in the neck! I'm tempted just to give them a slap! One of the problems is that I have tons of girls - 20 girls, 8 boys - in my class. Never a good think. Balance is what you want. Plus also a bunch of the girls I have are such utter drips! Someone says "I'm not your friend", and they burst into tears... I really have to bite my tongue not to just yell "pull yourself together you wuss!!"
Anyway, social worker Cath is in residence rather than the teacher these days I think!! YUK!

I am NOT a morning person, but this week I've been having new windows and guttering fitted. So while its my half term holiday, I've been us at 8.30 each day to let it workmen, and then get to sit in all day while they rip things off my house! Anyway, been watching some daytime tele, and mainly all the house makeover programs :) My current favourite is Houses Under the Hammer. It's about houses sold at auctions and what people do with them. I've decided if I ever have a few hundred thousand (Ha! In my dreams!) I'll be a mini property developer. Some of these people make very easy money - thousands at a time.

Another philosophical point to ponder: why do ALL workmen take 2 sugars in their tea or coffee??!! I don't use sugar at all really, so just save the odd sugar sachet (pinch them from restaurants etc) but these workmen have almost cleaned me out of sugar! I can make them one drink tomorrow and that is it! I almost had to buy some sugar today.. Ah well, time they gave up sugar anyway..

By this time tomorrow, I should hopefully be fully double glazed and have loved new guttering that actually works. Oh, and be £6000 poorer....
Saturday tomorrow, no makeover TV I bet. What will I watch??!

I'm getting bored of school blogs - yawn, yawn, yawn!! Decided to blog about something else today: My cars! Yes, far more interesting!! As you may know, I got myself a new Mini One in November. A nice shade of blue (Indi Blue in car dealer speak) with a white checked roof. If you're not interested in cars, just click away now, but I have always been into cars, and can probably still tell you the number plates of all the cars we had when I was a kid! (Another picture of my car)

Anyway, my very first car was a beat up old Renault 4. I loved that car - and did a roof job on that one too! I painted it dark blue to cover the rust! It was an old banger, but a lot of fun. Next came a Fiat Uno - very sensible - very dull! It was also quite horrible to drive, with an engine with the power of an elderly tortoise! Was glad to trade that in for a really cool little car, a Citroen AX GT. That was a fab car - light and flimsy, but went like a rocket powered roller skate. However, it was about as well built as a roller skate too! The driver's door virtually fell off one day when I was getting out! Brilliant to drive though.
Next came another Citroen, a ZX Volcane, which was very lively. A 2.0 litre engine, and a much bigger car. It was supposed to have about 50bhp more than the AX GT, but I never liked it as much. Yeah, fine on the motorway, but for me, it's sprinting away from traffic lights and taking tight bends as fast as I can that I enjoy. The ZX was too grown up for me! It was a medium family car, and I like small cars better.
The Nissan Micra should really have been another in the "sensible but dull" category, but I was actually really fond of that car. It never let me down once in 3 and a half years, had a lot of character, and was a surprising amount of fun for a little 1.0 litre car. Plus I really LOVE the footrest for your left foot - why don't all cars have them?

Anyway, we're up to date now as I waved goodbye to the Micra in November. While the Mini was my dream car, I'm actually only getting to really love it now a few months later. I was just too nervous about damaging it for the first few weeks - and after denting the door, I was even more anxious about it, parking it, leaving it anywhere out of my line of sight! Plus, I was a little disappointed with the performance. The Mini has a 1.6 litre engine, but is quite a heavy little car, hence you really have to work those gears. I was beginning to think I made a mistake and should have bought a Mini Cooper and cut back on the extras. However, now the I've done 1500 miles and the engine is worn in properly, it's running quite a bit sweeter. Plus, I am slightly less nervous and am chucking it into a few corners, whereas I think I was just too tentative for the first few months. Basically, if I just put my foot down and hang on round the bends I have more fun!
I really should have taken Marky up on his offer to have a drive of his Mini Cooper at New Year, just so I could compare I think! (Already planning the next car!)

Anyway, sorry to have bored non car fans! I'm on half term this week, so no school chat. Instead it's a fun week of having new guttering fitted on Monday and Tuesday, and double glazing fitted to the back on the house on Wednesday and Thursday. Great - I get to sit in all week and write cheques for thousands of pounds! Ah well, it'll be nice when its done, but just such a BORING way to spend money!!

A bit of a moan coming up - so what's new!! One of the parents came to me on Friday saying their kid wouldn't be in Monday morning as they were going to look at another school. "Moving house?" I asked? "No, just thinking of going to another school" the parent replied.

This mother is a right pain in the neck - spent the whole of last year complaining her daughter was being bullied, and ended up being brought in to sit in the head techers office to peer through the curtains and see that her daughter kept playing with these girls who were supposedly bullying her. The girl is bright and has settled down now, and indeed, is one of my brightest kids, but the mother is still not happy. Which brings me to my moan...parents!! OK, not all, just some.

One of my most depressing days as a teacher was when I was shopping in Sainsburys and met a parent. "Oh hello" she said, "how are you? You taught my children didn't you but I can't remember your name." Not only had I taught her troublesome daughter for a year (and had her coming in once a week for chats about her behaviour), I had her lively but likable son for 2 years - and he had only just left my class! I had spent many hours trying to help her children, writing reports on them, trying to do my best for them. I could have told her about her son's reading and writing, about his attitude to work, and his quite amazing ability to talk for an entire lesson yet STILL do loads of work!(That used to drive the other kids mad!) I was just depressed because I realised that I could have told her all that, while she didn't even know my name...

Of course, there are some lovely parents, but a minority of them view us as little more than babysitters, sending in their kids when they are sick because they have no one else to look after them. A recent event had us calling in a parent because her child was covered in spots, and an ex-nurse on the staff suspected measles. The mother was FAR more annoyed at being called into school than for her child's welfare. She returned an hour later claiming she had taken the child to a doctor who said there was nothing wrong with her ans she was "run down". Anyone knows you just cannot get a doctor's appointment that quick, and how many doctors would even *say* that a child was run down??? She just wanted to get the child back into its day care...sorry, education! This same mother had just spent £100 on hair extensions, while her older daughter had told her teacher how pleased she was, because she had managed to buy herself a PE kit from a charity shop and still had some of her pocket money left!

Anyway, it's the minority that just really get your back up and make you wonder why you bother sometimes. There are many compensations, good things about teaching(I'll have to blog about that instead of whinging sometime! ), but I thought I'd rant about one of THE biggest pains!!! Sorry about that..Moan over.

The UK had snow this week - and once again there was total chaos! Part of the problem is that we are just not set up for it. You can guarantee that if a local coucil buys new gritter lorries, it won't snow for years!
Yesterday at 2pm, the clouds rolled in and the hugest snowflakes I've ever seen pelted down. The kids loved it - and it was gorgeous...until I got in my car to drive home at 4pm! EEK!!

Again, cos we're not used to it, Brits don't know how to drive in snow! People were still trying to change lanes quickly, cut into traffic queues and while queuing on hills, were MUCH too close together. I was convinced my beloved Mini was about to roll or be rolled into someone else! Anyway, almost an hour later I got home - a 10 minute journey usually. However, I got off quite lightly. One teacher had a 6 hour journey, and most took longer than me. In nearby Birmingham, it was taking 6 or 7 hours to get out of the city centre. Crazy!

Anyway, turned on the local radio eagerly this morning, hoping our school would be one of those listed as closed...no such luck! After getting caught on the ice on the end of my road, I made it to school and we did our best to advise parents to take their kids home if they wanted - more snow showers were possible later.

It ended up being a nice day - only 8 of my class were in, so we put them all together and just played about. We let them play in the snow just before hometime, and when I went to gather them in I got ambushed!! Snowballs everywhere - and those were thrown at me by other teachers!!

Weather should be back to normal tomorrow, but it was fun while it lasted - apart from the driving.

Well, back to school this week - and boy was it tough going. Not the teaching, but the having to get up early! I am not now, and have NEVER been a morning person!
Also back to the incompetent idiot that is our head teacher. You know one problem with primary schools? Too many women who put up with male prats!!! He had another stupid annoucement this week about giving us some time off - a whole hour in the afternoon, where he could use our planning to teach and thus give us an hour free for paperwork. Like most experienced teachers, I don't write much down for the non-core subjects (Geography, history, music art etc) so how he think this will help is beyond me, as we'll have to spend extra time writing down plans for him now. He seemed to think we would love the idea! But what really got me is that we all thought it was stupid, but no else would say anything!! I questioned him but no one else would. They all just sat there and moaned later!
Despite what some of you at the Ville think, I am seen as the funny loud mouth one at school :) I will always comment and question and am usually the entertainment! But it gets tedious being the ONLY one who will actually question anything. Sadly, I think its a female thing. I don't think he'd get away with it if there were more men around. Still I got my own back by making him do some ICT stuff in front of everyone, when I *know* he is the most computer illiterate on the staff!! He might be a nice easy going guy, but sometimes I yearn for someone who actually has a clue....!

Ah well, Friday night. The best part of the week!!

Happy New Year to anyone bored enough to be reading this!

I am not a big fan of the new year (apart from the Tarts always lovely NYE parties! Great again ladies!!) and I often find it a rather melacholic time of year, however, I am looking forward to a few things in the year ahead.

I have renewed my pland for a great holiday taking in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Despite not liking long flights, (especially the leg cramps and sheer boredom) I would love to see this part of the world. However, I am planning something fairly ambitious in terms of destinations - I mean lots of them! Also, bit of a bugger New Zealand being in the middle of winter while we in the Northerm hemisphere are in summer - what WILL I wear!!

I am quite proud of myself for losing a couple of stone and getting fitter in 2003, so one of my resolutions is to keep that up. It's back on the diet after this weekend, and back to the gym. I have never bothered much before, but I surprised myself how good it made me feel about myself. I was always a sporty kid, all the way through university. It was work that made me lazy - that's my excuse anyway! Its easy to think, "I'm tired, I've worked hard, I deserve that ice cream/packet of crisps/bacon double cheese burger and large fries!"

I have a new swimming costume, new tracks loaded on my portable MP3 player, new shuttlecocks for badminton, and am finishing off the Christmas chocolates... here's to 2004!

Finished school on Friday - and as usual, managed to pick up a nasty cold from those bug-infested children. By Friday I had no voice at all - which was interesting! FACT: If you whisper at children, they will whisper back!! Actually this worked with the staff too! We were all doing hand signals all day!

We took the kids to the pantomime on Thursday - an unknown thing to the non-Brits, but it was very enjoyable. Basically its a comedy fairy tale usually(Jack and the Beanstalk this time) where the main character, the Dame, is a man dressed up as a woman. The lead young man, the Principal Boy is a girl and the jokes are usually VERY corny! The audience joins in a lot ("Oh no it doesn't! Oh yes it does!...BEHIND YOU!!) and is it great fun. Despite coughing my way through it, I loved it. Apart from our 200 or so kids, there were about 100 old folks, who actually really liked having the kids there. Pantomimes aren't much fun if no one joins in, so our children shouting along really helped.

Anyway, by Friday night and the staff Christmas do, my voice had some alcoholic lubrication, and I was able to croak at people. Sadly no one got that drunk and the Michael Jackson tribute band had us all sniggering. Now, just Christmas to survive...

I've had a rather nice BMW 318i while my Mini is in the garage for re-sprayed bonnet and door repairs, and I think I am changing personality! I feel the urge to zoom up behind people and drive in a really intimidating manner. I am inclined to cut people up and overtake on the inside...yes, I am becoming a BMW driver!! Thank goodness I am getting my Mini back tomorrow! (Although I do rather like the 150bhp engine in this car... should have bought the Mini Cooper..)

It's been Christmas play time at school the last few days, and despite a lot of rushing around, it is always fun. We had all 300 or so kids involved, and its quite heart warming to see them all singing their little hearts out. I'm a bit of a "bah, humbug" person when it comes to Christmas, but I must admit it is a nice time in primary schools. We had a serious discussion about the existance of Santa this afternoon while sewing some Chistmas tree decorations.

My kids are 8/9 and at the age where they aren't quite sure whether he's real. One girl said that he *must* be real because her mum couldn't possibly afford to buy so many presents. The kids have no idea how much debt their parents get into.

Well, my student Liz finished today, and generally speaking she did great. She's back after Easter, so I can nag at her more then.
I spent today with a couple of guys who were setting up the server at school - which was actually great cos I want to learn more about networks, but I did get lost a few times. :)

I now have to actually TEACH again next week!! Arrgh! I think I've forgotten how....! "Erm OK children, today we are going to do some...colouring!"

Sadly nothing dramatic to report on my student. She has calmed her voice down a bit and is doing fine - although not perfect. However, having some real old witches when I was a student, I ended up re-writing my lesson observation on her as I was being too picky I thought.

Todays big beef has been about DELL computers! They have the customer service expertise of an elderly hamster!! After getting 16 new PCs from them about 6 weeks back with the wrong operating system and not the software we wanted, I had a good rant. I had a long discussion with the supervisor of the complete idiot who is the education sales advisor and *thought* all would be better with DELL. They are an official recommened supplier to Coventry schools.

Anyway, talked the head into splashin out for a file server for the school network, but I kept out of it - having had arguments on the phone with this guy.
Anyway, the server arrives, we book in someone to install in next week(good timing as the student is in my class so I can see how the network operates.) Anyway, on unpacking the "server" today, I find that its a bog standard WindowsXP PC with none of the software that was supposed to be on it. Meanwhile the total prat at DELL has gone on holiday til Dec 9th!

Incompetance in people who you rely on to do your job is VERY annoying! So, while DELL are great computers, for God's sake do NOT try buying direct from them! (Well certainly not from the Education sales team!)

And on top of all that I have a sore throat.....boo hoo! (I hope you're feeling sorry for me by now :)

I am feeling rather guilty right now - basically it's Friday night and I don't feel I've really worked this week! My student Liz is rather disgustingly good! Consequently I've done about an hours teaching this week!

Today I had a bloke round to measure up for double glazing so went into school about 11am, then dashed off at 3.30 to see a fellow teacher's new baby (very cute incidentally!) and then a swim, but that usual Friday feeling - totally knackered but thank God it's the weekend - just wasn't there!

Ah well...Ready to cheer on England in the Rugby tomorrow :)

I hadn't said this as it was too painful, but I managed to dent my beloved new Mini last Friday - those damn gales and the HUGE Mini doors blew me into someone's wing mirror!! I was so upset I couldn't concentrate on Matrix Re-whatever! Its only a small one inch dent, but I was so annoyed with myself, the weather and life in general! Booked it in for the bonnet re-spray(there were dark patches when I got it) and a repair on the door, so will soon be perfect again, and I will have to be more careful!

What was that line from The Italian Job about blowing the doors off again???!!

Well the end of my student teacher's first week - although with various things happening she didn't do too much teaching! Honestly, what's the point in having a student if you can't put your feet up!!!

I am pretty relieved as she is actually pretty good - very organised and confident. However, I think she might have been watching me a bit too much this week as she is NEARLY as sarcastic as me with the children! They always tell you at college not to do that sort of thing, but it is very hard.

She does have the slightly annoying habit of ALWAYS TALKING VERY LOUDLY AND AT ONE VOLUME AND BEING RATHER STRIDENT. It's given me a bit of a headache and I've been in the next room. I'll try to think of a subtle way to get her to vary it a bit next week.

In many ways teaching is like acting - you HAVE to keep the childrens interest and attention, and your delivery is pretty crucial. I tend to perform a bit I think (try to get a few jokes in etc) to make up for the fact that I don't know what I'm on about at times. However, poor old students have to do loads of preparation - I remember it well! All those lesson plans...yuk! Whereas with your own class you tend to wing it a bit more - at least I do. I'm not a paperwork fan.

Anyway, I'll be doing some formal observations next week - *I* get to sit at the back and make notes!! Now then...how nasty shall I be????!

I have a student teacher starting next week - although apparently they must be called trainees now! She was in for a visit on Tuesday and then for the next 4 weeks.

I *hated* being a student teacher - it took me several years to get to like being an actual teacher! But it is very hard going into someone elses class and trying to establish yourself.

It's also quite hard having a student - us teachers are basically control freaks behind closed classroom doors, and having to stand back and let someone else take over is hard. You think you'll have all this free time to get stuff done, but almost never do. Still, she can't be much worse than my last student, a guy called Stacy(yes, a bloke!) who was totally useless. He did a whole lesson on how to work out the area of a rectangle by doing width times breadth!(For the ignorant, they both mean the same thing!)

Anyway, lets see how this Liz gets on....I'll keep you posted.

Well the half term holiday is nearly here. The kids finished today and we have a staff training day tomorrow. Trying to teach adults about computers is harder than teaching kids as several of them are slight techno phobes!

The girl with the pills is back and fine - with everyone keeping a close eye on her. However, some of the other kids have been playing drug pusher by passing around red tictacs in the playground!!

Its been assessment week this week - lots of tests for the kids, lots of marking for me! Still, they've done pretty well on the whole, which is a relief. Nothing more soul destroying that finding out you've been talking to 28 brick walls for 7 weeks!

Saturday is the Xenafest, and I'm looking forward to that. Should be a laugh.

This is turning into a bit of a school diary sorry, but had a disturbing incident yesterday.
A kid in my class came into school with a pocketful of pills! Caught her handing them out in the morning and marched her down to the deputy head. The little bleeder claimed to have picked them up in her garden and brought them in. She had 28 red pills, and my school is an a slightly rough area.
I had visions of some druggie dumping his stash over this girl's garden wall while on the run or something.
Anyway, after many, many lies later, her mother came in and took one look and realised they were her dad's antibiotics. The little devil had pinched them at the weeked, hidden them, told other kids she was bringing in tablets and then tried to give them to the others.
Thankfully the other children didn't take them, but she had, so had to be taken down to be checked out at the hospital.
We all rapidly did a discussion on the dangers of messing around with medicines with our children. I just kept imagining what could have happened if she or other kids had eaten some.(The girl did take at least 1, probably 2 herself) I mean 28 strong antibiotics could have killed her!

Anyway, to make the story even worse, we had a phone call from the hospital. They were keeping her in overnight to check her out, and were also concerned by the repeated lying she was doing - they wanted her to see a psychologist because they think she must be being bullied!!!!

It really annoys me how EVERYTHING kids do wrong is blamed on that, rather than a devious and sly little girl who was incredibly stupid and could have injured herself and other children.
Lets see if we get plastered over the front page of the papers now..

Had parents evening this week at school. I always quite enjoy meeting the parents - tells you an awful lot about the kids. The spoilt brat whose mummy complains there's too much homework and she doesn't have time to do it (I told her to *gasp* let her daughter actually do her homework herself...)

Then there are the thick-as-two-short-planks parents, whose offspring are often similarly blessed. Remember that kid who asked me how to spell ICT? Her mother listened to my explanation of how she was in a lower groups because she was struggling and needed the extra support then said, "so, she's doing alright then is she?"

Some other teachers had parents give them a lot of grief. Many parents just don't want to hear that their kid is less than brilliant. If they are struggling, they want to know how we can fix it. Some kids will never be geniuses but some mums and dads can't seem to accept it and keep wanting them to be up with the top groups.

However, the pest parents are only a small minority, and most people are fine. As long as their kids are happy, they are happy.
I've had a very long week - as well as 2 parents evenings, I've been setting up PCs in the school computer suite, and I think my brain has short circuited. Sick of the sight of keyboards....infact, I'm off to go watch some mindless rubbish on tele...

Splashed out on a shiny new laptop on Saturday - I love buying new toys!! I *do* have a newish laptop, but its through a laptops for teacher scheme, and so isn't really mine, and I've always felt a bit awkward about that. ie No point in really upgrading the memory etc. Plus that damn thing is so SLOOOOW!! A 1Ghz laptop should be OK, but it's always freezing up on me.

So, now I have a super slim Samsung, that is very pretty, and seems able to cope with my demands (plus it has a CD writer.) It's one of these new Centrino ones - which means I can use it with a wireless network - but don't have one. Ah well, thinking ahead...
Now, lets see how long before I become dissatisfied with this one...

Eat your heart out Gadget Queen!!